A World Without Rule Number 12
by CUBSsquint
Summary: AU TATE fanfic. If the two met in high school, and didn't have to play by Gibb's rules. Kate and Tony are just two flirty teenagers, but what happens when Kate goes missing? How much will Tony risk to find her?
1. A Chance to Start Over

**[Alright! I've finally gotten around to writing my NCIS/Bones crossover! Well, it's more of a Tate fanfic, but theres a bunch of Bones nonetheless. I really love writing all of my favorite characters into one story. Well, read and REVIEW :) pleaseeee]**

* * *

It'd been a long time since she'd been to public school. It felt weird wearing jeans and a t-shirt to school instead of the mandatory oxford, sweater, and tacky plaid skirt. As she drove up to the school she stared in awe at how big it was. Three of her old school could fit inside the main building alone. She found a parking space in the student section, got out of the car, slowly slung her backpack over her right shoulder, and began to walk to the entrance.

A lot had changed since her father joined the Secret Service. She was proud of him of course. It was a big honor for him to be chosen to protect the president. She had been excited to move to Washington, D.C. because there were so many wonderful museums and things to see there. However, starting at a new school her sophomore year, a public school at that, was on the list of reasons she'd rather have stayed back home.

Caitlyn Todd made her way across the lawn and up the main outdoor steps. She'd had to admit, the campus was beautiful. The lush green grass, tall oak trees, and pretty little flowers had a way of bringing a quaint charm to the old brick building. But that all changed once she got inside.

It was loud, crowded, and smelled the slightly repugnant smell unique to high schools. She stopped along the wall to pull out her schedule and map from her backpack. The map made no sense whatsoever. She stood there, turning it at all angles as a confused tourist would, until she heard a voice standing right next to her.

"Well what do we have here?" the voice asked. She looked up from her map to see a tall athletic boy, with sandy blond hair and deep blue eyes looking intently at her. His jeans were hanging down a bit low and there was a stain on the bottom left corner of his shirt, but other than that he looked like something right off of a Hollister bag. She was startled for a second. The boy flashed a cocky grin and said, "I don't think I've seen you around here before. I'm Anthony DiNozzo, Tony for short. The star of the football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, and whatever other sport team you can think of. I guess you can call it a natural talent. So you must be new?"

"Is it that obvious," she said sarcastically, clearly unimpressed by the boy's lack of modesty.

"Yup it is," Tony replied, "So let me do you a favor and show you to your first class."

Kate sighed, weighing her options. Either she let this egotistic boy walk her to class, or she wander around the halls for the next few hours. "Fine," she said reluctantly, showing him her schedule.

"Would you look at that," Tony said, sounding impressed, "How many AP and honors classes can you possibly take?"

"Well…" Kate began, ready to proudly boast about her old school, "We had a slightly higher standard at my old school."

"Oh," Tony started to grin, "Private school? Catholic school?" He asked, his grin getting wider.

Kate had not anticipated this reaction. "Well, yes," she slowly answered.

"Do you still have your uniform?" Tony asked, "You know, with the cute little skirt, knee high socks, and long v-neck polo?" She glared at him. "I'll take that as a yes!" Tony said with a laugh, "I'd love to see you in that for Halloween or something."

The bell rang and suddenly the hallways were mysteriously empty. "What? Oh crap, you're going to make my late on my first day!" She yelled, still glaring at him.

"Hey relax," he said with a casual seriousness, "You have PE first period with me, a class that even with all your superior intelligence I'll still be the best. Coach doesn't mind if I'm late, and you're with me."

Kate slung her backpack over her shoulder and grudgingly followed Tony's lead.

_'Well she's kinda hot' _Tony thought to himself as he took the long way to the gym. "Wait!" he said, stopping them both, "What's your name?"

"Wow DiNozzo, I thought you'd never ask," she laughed at her own sarcastic comment, "It's Kate."

Tony laughed too. He liked how she called him by his last name, but he was also glad that she wasn't upset about him forgetting to ask for her name. Then he kind of nudged her shoulder and said, "Comm'on lets go."

* * *

"DiNozzo! About time you showed up!" coach barked at him as they entered the gym. Then he saw that Kate was behind Tony and chuckled, "Got a reputation to keep I see."

"Reputation?" Kate asked Tony.

Tony let out a nervous laugh, "Well you know…"

Kate predicted the rest. "Ugh DiNozzo you're so gross," she said, elbowing him in the stomach.

He let out a groan, "What was that for?" he squeaked, but Kate had already jogged across the gym and was making small talk with a group of girls.

Kate was regretting her choice of girls because the second she reached them she was surrounded by screeching voices saying, "Oh my God, Tony DiNozzo walked you to class!" She quickly remembered the reason most of her closest friends were guys. She really disliked drama.

Coach split the kids into four different teams for volleyball. Kate was glad they were playing volleyball. She had been the only freshman on the varsity team last year and she was ready to kick some butt, especially because her team was playing Tony's.

She was first up to serve, and decided to start easy, saving her jump serve for later. Serve after serve she pounded the ball down on the other side, aiming at all the open corners. Finally Tony took a few steps back from his position at the center net to cover the back row. He was able to dig up her serve, but his pass looped right back over the net. It just so happened to be high enough for Kate to jump up from the back row and pound it right back down in his face.

"Whoa, what was that," one of Tony's teammates asked.

"Back row attack!" one of Kate's teammates cheered. He then turned and introduced himself, "Seeley Booth. Shame to say I'm friends with DiNozzo over there," Booth laughed, "You must be really embarrassing him. He's not used to anyone being better than him in gym class."

Kate laughed. "Glad to hear." She then continued to serve, getting "Oohs and ahhs" from her teammates as her jump serve slammed to the floor on the opposite side of the court. The other team really wasn't trying any more, except Tony, who occasionally dug a serve up but the rest of his team was unable to put it back over the net.

The game finished twenty five to zero, one of Kate's personal best. Coach had been standing off to the side watching the whole time. "Are you going to try-out for the team?" he asked her eagerly.

"I'm not sure," Kate said honestly, "I haven't given it much thought."

"Well we'd be glad to have you," he said before dismissing the rest of the class to the locker rooms.

Kate turned to find Tony standing right behind her.

"Oh, hello," she said nonchalantly.

"What was that?" he asked.

"What was what?" she said in a rather innocent voice and began walking toward the locker rooms.

"That was… awesome!" he said goofily. "How'd you get so good at volleyball?"

"I guess you can call it a natural talent," she said quoting him with a smirk, and walked into the girls' locker room leaving Tony staring after her.

* * *

Kate freshened up in the locker room. She pulled out her schedule and map again, determined to find her own way to her next class, but she wasn't having much luck.

"Hey do you need help? You look like you could use some help. You're the new girl, the one Tony walked to class? That's cool. I've known Tony a long time, a bit chauvinistic, but nice once you get to know him. Sorry I'm rambling now aren't I? You're name's Kate right? Oh cool, you have AP chemistry with me next period, I'll take you there! Sorry, I had one too many Caf-Pows this morning, you know, caffeine, good stuff." Kate looked up and was at first taken aback by the girl talking to her. She was tall and wearing high black pumps. Her black hair was in pig tails high on the sides of her head. She wore a dog collar around her neck as a chocker. Her black tight shirt, black skirt, black nail polish, black eyeliner, and black bracelets all seemed to complete what one might call a "Goth" look. But she didn't seem Goth; she was much too cheery to fit the stereotype.

"Um, hi," Kate replied, unsure what exactly to say, "Yeah I'm Kate. And you are…?"

"Oh yeah, I'm Abby! So are you ready to head to chemistry?"

Kate gave a little laugh. "Alright, let's go."

Abby led her down the hall, and around corners, and down more long halls, until they reached what seemed like the very edge of the building. "Here we are, the chem. lab!" Abby proclaimed as they walked in the door right as the bell rang. "My favorite room in the whole building! I just love all this science," she said as she walked Kate over to a table in the center of the room.

The table was a black fire-proof square lab table with four stools. There were already two people sitting at the table, one on each side. At the side closest to where they stood was a somewhat pudgy boy with blond hair. On the other side was a skinny girl with medium length light brown hair. She seemed to be buried in the book in front of her, absorbing every little word. The boy turned, "Oh hey Abby," he said, then he noticed Kate standing there as well. He gave a little smile, not a cocky smile like Tony had, but a sincere nice smile. "I'm Timothy. That over there is Temperance. She's…very studious. And you are?"

"Kate," she answered, "Nice to meet you."

Abby sat down at the stool next to Temperance, and gave what could be considered a jealous look as Kate sat down next to a smiling McGee.

"So, um, how do you like it here so far?" McGee asked courteously.

"It's pretty good," Kate said, "I just had gym class."

"She made Tony look like a complete idiot!" Abby chimed in eagerly.

"That's always good," McGee grinned, "Tony can be a bit…full of himself."

"I could tell," Kate smiled.

Then Temperance finally looked up from her book. She gave Kate a funny look, said "hi", and went straight back to her book. Kate frowned.

"Oh don't mind her," Abby said with a laugh, "She's very…pragmatic. Rational and logical you know. Almost nothing interrupts her during the middle of a good book. But don't worry she can be very sociable…especially with a certain Seeley Booth…"

Immediately Temperance's head looked straight up at Abby and away from her book. "Abby!" she squeaked, but at that moment the bell rang and Abby turned in her seat to face forward. Temperance turned slightly red but faced forward also.

"Well, welcome to chemistry class," McGee said with a grin, "I guarantee you things can get pretty entertaining at times."

Kate pulled out her spiral and book, and with her pen at the ready turned to listen to the lecture.


	2. Time to Adjust

The day continued on, time passing quite quickly. Kate felt more welcome at this new public school than she'd ever thought possible. At lunch she had sat with Abby, Temperance, and their other friends Angela, Cam, and Ziva, all of whom she had noticed in a few of her classes. Now she was on her way to the final class of the day, eighth period AP European history. According to Abby's directions, the classroom was straight down the main hallway and up three flights of stairs. She had made her way up the first flight when she felt someone's hand gently grab her arm. She turned to see none other than Tony.

"Hey, how's your day been going?" he asked with a casual smile.

"Good, but…" she said, slipping her arm out of his grasp, "I gotta get to history. I don't exactly have much leverage to charm my way out a tardy yet."

Tony sighed, ignoring her slight diss. "Alright then, see you later!" he called after Kate as she scrambled up the stairs to beat the bell to class.

She caught her breath after running up the last two flights. She walked into the class and scanned the room for any empty seats. She saw Temperance sitting next to Booth, the boy from her gym volleyball team. She found herself trying to hide a chuckle, remembering Abby's earlier comment, as she watched the two engage in the most flirtatious bickering she had ever seen.

"Kate," she heard her name called and looked around, "There's an empty seat over here." She turned to see McGee waving her towards him and two other boys. She took a seat to his left as he introduced the others. "This is Jack," he indicated to the somewhat short, scruffy looking guy who nodded in acknowledgement. "And this is Zach," the really young looking, bug-eyed boy looked up at her.

They all talked until the teacher told the class to settle down and take out their notes.

* * *

"Um," Kate asked McGee as they walked out of class later, "This is a bit embarrassing, but could you help me find my locker?"

"You, uh, haven't been to your locker yet?" McGee asked in a puzzled voice.

"Well, I've had my backpack and spirals, and I'm picking my textbooks up after school, and so I haven't exactly had time to find my locker," she explained.

"Sure I'll help," McGee said, "I have to get to computer club, but I've got some time."

Kate handed him the paper with her locker number and he led the way. "Alright he we are," he said, "One locker from the end."

"Thanks," she said as he handed back the paper and hurried on to computer club.

"Ugh," she said to herself as she saw who occupied the one locker to her left.

He looked up and gave her a little smile. She tried, but couldn't resist smiling back. '_Stop'_ she told herself.

"So," he said, "you never did tell me how your first day has been." He had finished packing his bag and was now casually leaning up against his closed locker to talk to her.

"It been overwhelming," she said honestly.

"That's because you're taking all the advanced classes with most of the smart freaks. You should come hang out with me and some of the guys tomorrow after school."

"Maybe," Kate said slowly, not wanting to let herself get caught in the trap of a guy like him, a guy who has a different girl on his arm every week.

"Maybe?" Tony asked. Girls normally jumped at a chance like this. His blue eyes gazed into her brown ones quizzically, while his fingers ran through his perfectly blond hair.

"I'll have to see if I have other plans first," she said matter-a-factly. Then to tease him she leaned in very close and continued, "but like I said…maybe," she whispered. And with that she quickly walked off, extremely satisfied with the shocked face Tony had once he'd opened his eyes and noticed she had simply left.

* * *

The next morning was Friday and all people at school could talk about was the first football game of the season. Kate had realized this immediately because all the guys on the team wore their jerseys to school. She passed Temperance and Angela on the way to her locker. Angela was trying to convince Temperance to go to the game but to no avail. However, Booth then walked up and exclaimed, "Bones!" which confused Kate, but Temperance seemed to like it, "Come to the game tonight," he coaxed, "It could be like an anthropological study of American high school sports."

Once Temperance reluctantly agreed he tossed her one of his jerseys and simply said, "Wear it tonight," before walking off. Temperance just stood there, holding the jersey. Kate had already passed them but she could hear Angela shriek from behind, "Oh. My. Gosh. Sweetie! Now calm down, this is great!"

When Kate got to her locker she was glad to see that no one was around. But once she was done unpacking her homework she heard that annoying voice that was starting to get very familiar, "Hiya Kate!"

"Morning Tony," she replied without even bothering to look. Nevertheless she did glance up, and saw him standing there in his perfectly fitted football jersey. Number seventeen. She sighed; he would be her favorite number.

"You know, this is starting to remind me of…" he started, but Kate grabbed her bag and walked away. She only got a few steps before she heard, "Hey wait!" as Tony called after her, "Why do you keep walking off?"

"Well, I've been warned that you can compare almost any situation to a movie scenario, and to walk away when I hear the warning words 'this reminds me of'," she explained with a laugh.

"And who told you that," he asked.

"Timothy," she replied.

"McGee…" Tony said in what sounded like a revengeful voice while his head looked down and to his left.

Kate laughed for two reasons. Reason one was because that is the exact reaction McGee had predicted. She would never admit it, but reason two…she'd hadn't imagined he'd look so cute when he made that face.

"So are you ready to walk to class," Tony asked, glancing at the clock.

"Yup I am," she said and walked off.

"Wait!" Tony called again as he hurried back to shut his locker and run after her, "I meant walk together."

"With you?" Kate feigned disgust, "I guess."

* * *

**[Review please! What do you think so far? Any other characters you want introduced? Review :) ]**


	3. Sense of Security

"Hey Kate!" Abby said after meeting up with her at Kate's locker once school let out. "Do you want to go see a movie tonight with me and McGee? Then we can all go to the football game after. You're going to the football game right? I usually don't go. There's just something hinky about those wobbly bleachers and all the noise and such, but I've decided it'd be fun tonight. So do you want to come?"

Kate smiled. She had the excuse she needed to say no to hanging out later with Tony. "Sounds great," she told Abby.

Abby then began peering at the pictures Kate had put up in her locker. She pointed at the picture of Kate's puppy, a tiny five-month golden retriever that had been her going away present. "Aww who's this?" she squealed.

Just then Kate saw DiNozzo's hair around the corner. It was obvious that he was standing around the hall listening to every word they said. The only thing she wasn't sure on was how long he'd been standing there. This was another perfect opportunity to make fun of him.

"Oh," Kate laughed, "That's Tony." She set the prank into motion. She just had to hope Abby would go along with it, whether she realized it or not.

"Tony is so cute! You just gotta love him!" Abby squeaked, "So adorable."

"I know," Kate said to Abby, "He's so perfect. I just love him and how those amazingly cute eyes draw you in." Kate held in her laughter. She saw Tony's head peer further around the corner. "He's nothing like DiNozzo," she said bluntly after a second.

She heard a thunk that must've been DiNozzo quickly turning back around the corner and hitting his head on the fire alarm. "You can come out now Tony," she called towards him.

Tony winced, then casually strolled around the corner and to his locker. "What'd you say Kate?"

Abby started laughing hysterically, realizing what had happened.

"What?" Kate asked slyly. "I didn't say anything."

"Mhm," Tony said, as he quickly grabbed a random book out of his locker and walked away. Both girls stood there laughing at he raised his right hand up to rub the back of his head.

"Serves him right for trying to eavesdrop," Abby told Kate.

"Definitely. And just so you know Abby, my dog's name is actually Sasha."

"That's nice Kate. But anyways, I've been thinking…" Abby started, "You and Tony. You'd make a really cute couple."

"Abby…" Kate whined as she grabbed her bag and walked away.

"Just sayin'," Abby yelled after her. "Oh, and meet at the theater around four!"

* * *

Kate, Abby, and McGee went out for some pizza after seeing the movie. The little pizza parlor was only a few blocks from the game, so they parked at the stadium and walked over. They sat and ate to pass the time, discussing the movie and how Kate was liking school so far.

"Hmm, it's about time to head over to the game," McGee announced as it reached seven o'clock.

"So is our football team any good?" Kate asked as they paid the bill and went outside.

"Well, most of our starters are sophomores because more than half of the players from last year's team were seniors, and the juniors don't have anyone athletic. But, uh, Booth and DiNozzo are supposedly very good and already have colleges scouting them." McGee explained.

Kate pretended to lose interest at the mention of Tony, but she was pretty excited to see the game. The football team at her old school hadn't won a game in nearly twenty years. Sure, they had had a decent basketball team, but the atmosphere just didn't seem to match up to what having a winning football team would feel like.

The stadium seemed a lot bigger up close than Kate had expected. She looked up at the packed bleachers, taking note of their incredibly large red and white fan section. Abby and McGee had already started pushing their way through the crowd so she scrambled to catch up. They found room to squeeze in near the top next to Temperance, Angela, and Jack. Temperance was wearing Booth's jersey, which was apparently large on her so she had tied it up in the back and flipped the tail under. Angela looked like she really got into the spirit of the game. She wore red short Soffe shorts, one red tube sock and one white one, a red shirt with their school name across the front with the sleeves rolled up, and she had her hair in a high pony tail with a bandana around her forehead. Jack looked out of place however, still in the tan pants and polo he had worn to school that day.

"Hey! Glad you guys came," Angela greeted them. "Game starts in five minutes!"

Everyone on the bleachers was standing now. Kate stood on the end of the row next to Abby. The football team ran onto the field as everyone cheered. She scanned the players for number seventeen but couldn't find him. She vaguely heard Abby say, "Looking for someone?" with a fairly enthusiastic smile on her face.

"Hm?" Kate asked, not listening to Abby but still scanning the field. At last she spotted him off to the side talking to one of the coaches. She turned to Abby. "Wait, what did you say?"

Abby just smiled at her and looked at the field. Kate gave a puzzled look, but turned back to watch the kickoff.

* * *

The game was tied thirteen-thirteen with only a few seconds left on the clock. Their team had possession. Kate recognized Booth as the quarterback who threw the "Hail Mary" pass a long ways down the field. The clock ran out as the ball was in mid-air. Time seemed to slow down. One player had managed to get past the defense. The ball still soared high in the air. He ran and ran. It didn't look like he'd make it. But at the last second he seemed to gain one final burst of speed and he leapt up, grabbed the ball, and landed in the end zone.

The crowd went crazy. The team rushed onto the field to celebrate. The player threw the ball down and yanked off his helmet to reveal an ecstatic DiNozzo who flashed a large smile to the crowd before joining in the tackle pile of his team.

Kate simply stood there smiling. She looked around. Abby and McGee were hugging and jumping up and down. Temperance was also standing still, gazing down at the field. Kate was surprised to find Angela and Jack kissing. She hadn't known they were dating, but then again, she still had a lot to catch up on at this new school.

The crowd eventually began to thin out as the celebrations came to an end. Kate said good-bye to Abby and McGee before heading down the bleachers. She entered the parking lot and searched for her car. As she was walking across the lot a car came suddenly speeding out of no where. And it was coming right at her. When it failed to slow down she hurriedly threw herself back onto the sidewalk. She expected to feel the pain as she landed on the concrete, but it never came. Instead she heard someone sprinting and felt a pair of warm strong arms catch her right before she hit the ground.

Kate heard the car's tires squeal as it continued speeding out of the parking lot. She stayed still for a few moments, catching her breath. She looked down at the arms that had saved her from the concrete that was just inches from her face. The arms began to slowly pull her up, and proceeded to hold her in a hug position from behind to help her regain balance on her feet.

Kate glanced over her shoulder to see a concerned Tony looking down at her. She turned to face him, extremely aware that his hands were still around her waist. She stared into his eyes. Her breathing began to return to normal, but her heart was still beating fast. Faster, if that were possible. "Are you okay," he asked. His eyes were more serious than she'd ever thought possible. He looked sincerely concerned.

"I-, I-," Kate stuttered. She took a deep breath and broke eye contact. "As fine as I can be for almost being hit by a car DiNozzo!" She realized she had screamed the last part. She took another breath, calmed down, and looked back into his eyes. "I'm okay. Thanks."

His arms loosened around her waist, but then he surprised her by pulling her in for a tight comforting hug. "Don't go getting yourself killed before I've had the chance to get to know you," he whispered into her ear before letting go.

Kate looked up at him, truly impressed by this different, more mature Tony. "I won't," she whispered back.

Tony gave a slight smile, and picked up Kate's keys that had flown out of her hands earlier. He hit the unlock button and her car's lights flashed twice from the third row in the parking lot. With his arm around her, he walked her to her car in silence. Kate felt a newfound sense of security as he held her close. Then he handed her the keys, released his arm, and took a step back as she got into her car.

"Good night," he said with a smile, and walked off to find his car before she could say anything.

As she drove home she wondered just how exactly she was supposed to act the next time she saw him.


	4. Just a Giggle

Kate spent her Saturday morning watching reruns of Law and Order and its spinoff SVU. She loved watching crime shows. The suspense, the action, and the kick-ass law enforcers always made for a good hour of entertainment. She watched carefully, observing the plot and the tactics the good guys used to catch the bad ones. Kate considered going into a profession like this. If anything, it was for the power and security she imagined she would feel having a sidearm with her at all times.

TNT had re-runs on all day, but Kate soon grew tired and stretched out on the couch. She gave a yawn, tossed and turned a few times, and began to catch up on some much needed sleep.

_"Over here," she called to her partner, "There's a trail of blood leading right towards…" She stopped as she heard a large crash from behind. She and her partner held out their guns, scanning the warehouse for any sign of the intruder. It was dark. There was only a small beam of light coming in from the shafts on the ceiling. _

_Now it was quiet, too quiet. She kept her gun in front of her as she crept around the large wooden boxes. She couldn't see anyone, not her partner nor the perp. Then she suddenly felt a hand clamp over her mouth. She jumped, but the other hand held her firmly. The hand over her mouth tasted filthy and smelled like it hadn't been washed in years. She felt a gun pressed hard against the temple of her forehead. Then there was insane laughter. "Thought you could catch me," she heard a sinister voice over her shoulder, "Well you were wrong." The gun cocked. _

_"Drop your weapon and let Agent Todd go," Kate was relieved to see her partner slowly walking towards them, his gun aimed straight at the perp. She signaled her partner with her eyes and he understood. She elbowed the perp in the stomach as her partner fired his gun. But not before the perp had the chance to fire his. _

_She felt an increasingly painful burning as she fell to the ground. Where had she been hit? She reached her right arm up to her left side to find that the bullet had gone through her shoulder. She was struggling to remain conscious._

_The heavy body of the perp had fallen on top of her legs. Her partner ran over and dragged the dead body off of her. He then pressed his hands tightly over her wound. She felt dizzy and nauseous as her vision started to fade to black. _

_She heard her partner franticly say, "Sorry Kate, sorry. Come on, you'll be fine. Come on, Kate. Kate!"_

_The last thing she remembered before passing out was staring into those very familiar deep blue eyes._

Kate woke up with a start. She found herself on the floor, having rolled off the couch and landed on her left side. She remembered her dream as clearly as if it had really happened. And those blue eyes, those amazing blue eyes… She shivered. 'Great,' she thought, 'Now I'm even dreaming about him.'

* * *

Kate found herself taking more time than usual to get ready for school on Monday. She wore her medium length brown hair down and curly. She put her bangs up in a small poof above her forehead. She put her make-up on perfectly.

From her dresser she pulled out one of her new light green American Eagle shirts and jean shorts. She checked herself in the mirror again and again until she realized what she was doing. She sighed and left her bedroom, knowing it was simply just another day at school and wondering why she was being so fussy.

She spent a few minutes longer than she needed to at her locker before feeling disappointed as she walked to gym class alone. They were taking a test today and the girls were sent off to one classroom, the boys to another.

Abby looked at Kate funny they walked to Chemistry, but didn't seem to know what to say. She settled for, "You're hair looks really cute today Kate."

"Thanks Abby," Kate replied with a slight smile, taking her seat at the lab table.

The day droned on slowly. Kate noticed herself visiting her locker between every class for no apparent reason. But every time there was no one around.

After eight period Kate trudged her way back to her locker. She felt her heart skip a beat when she saw who was leaning up against it.

"Hey Kate," he said as her scooted over allowing her to open her locker.

"Hey Tony," she said softly as she quickly packed up her bag. There was awkward silence as she stood up, slung the bag over her shoulder, and shut her locker.

She stood up straight and looked into his eyes. She ended the silence. "I, uh, just want to thank you again for the other night. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't been there to catch…"

Tony cut her off. "I'm glad I was able to," he said honestly. Then he grinned. "Wanna go get a snack from the cafeteria?"

"Um, sure," Kate said glancing down at her feet.

Tony's smile widened as he grabbed her hand. She giggled. _'Oh no,' _Kate thought_, 'Did I really just giggle!'_ She gave a slight frown, unnoticed by Tony, but let herself be walked along side him.

His fingers interlaced with hers and she felt herself leaning in closer to him. _'What am I doing,'_ she continually asked herself.

In the cafeteria Tony bought a bag of popcorn and then led Kate outside. They walked around the campus talking. First about typical stuff like school and gym class, then it changed to flirty bickering as they childishly chided and threw popcorn at each other.

Kate glanced at her phone and saw that they'd been hanging out for about two hours. "I gotta go home and get ready for volleyball tryouts tonight," she said apologetically to Tony.

"Do you even have to tryout?" Tony implored. "It's a given you're going to make the team."

Kate beamed at his compliment. "Sorry, but I have to go," she said, pulling her fingers away from his and walking to her car.

He ran after her and grabbed her hand again. He walked her to her car and stood there as she hopped into the driver's seat. She felt extremely happy but tried very hard not to show it.

Kate rolled down her window and said, "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Tony said, suddenly leaning in very close. Kate felt her heart pounding in her chest. He looked her straight in the eyes and then gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. "See ya tomorrow," he whispered before backing up, smiling, and watching her drive away.

_'Woah,'_ she thought, as she sat there smiling the entire way home.

* * *

The next day started off with the exciting news that she had in fact made the volleyball team. She talked with Tony at their lockers for while before the two of them walked off to class casually, not holding hands but walking quite close nonetheless.

Abby smirked when she saw the two of them arrive at class. Kate and Tony separated as soon as they walked through the gymnasium doors so she went over to talk to Abby.

"What did I tell you!" Abby shrieked as Kate neared her.

"No, it's not like that," Kate lied, knowing full well what Abby was excited about. "He's just like a friend, a brother at the most."

"Sure he is," Abby said still smirking. "Well we're picking tennis partners today," she explained, "So I think I'm gonna go partner with Cassie so that you're free to go with Tony."

"What? No, I'll be your partner," Kate pleaded.

Coach barked at the class to pay attention so Kate's pleading with Abby was cut short. "Now as you know we're starting tennis. You either have the choice of choosing your partner or picking from a hat."

The majority of the class shouted out "let us choose!" Coach nodded in approval and took a step back as kids began running across the gym to choose their partners. Kate looked over at Tony and their eyes met. She took a step back to Abby, but Abby pushed her towards Tony. He headed in her direction so she walked over to him.

"Partners?" he asked, "We'd pretty much dominate this class."

"I guess," Kate said with a smirk, "But I'll obviously be better than you."

"Nah you won't!" Tony teased back.

Kate stuck out her tongue just as Tony stuck out his.

"Fine," Kate said.

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Huh?" Tony asked. Kate laughed as she walked over to the shelf to get two tennis rackets.

After skillfully creaming the other team in their first match the two walked off the court, their hands playfully touching before they raced back inside.

* * *

Abby smirked the entire way to Chemistry.

"Abby," Kate said, "Comm'on Abby. It's not like that."

"You can deny it all you want but I have eyes Kate," Abby told her, "The gods are willing you two to be together!"

"What?" Kate asked, but once again the bell rang and interrupted her conversation with Abby.

The rest of her classes went fine, but Kate was anxious for the day to end. When the last bell finally rang she hurried down to her locker to see Tony smiling back at her. They did the same as the day before, held hands, got a popcorn, and walked around the campus. When it was time for Kate to go, he walked her to her car, gave a quick kiss on the cheek, and watched her drive off.

They continued this routine for quite some time. Kate was always careful to avoid Abby, but she eventually didn't care. Each day she grew closer to Tony, even to the point of allowing him to tell nearly hundreds of movie scenarios.

She liked the simplicity, not wanting to rush into anything. However, she always felt herself smiling when looking back at their childish bickering moments. As they were saying goodbye one day she thought to herself, _'Maybe…'_


	5. My Lady

"Come out Kate! I want to see it!" Abby screamed into the dressing room, "We've been shopping for like five hours now and this one has to be perfect!"

Kate remained silent in the dressing room, looking at herself in the mirror. She had on a strapless royal blue dress that had sequences around the top. It hugged her curves and fell to the perfect length between her knees and her hips. She twirled around gazing at her dress in the mirror, but stopped once she realized how foolish she must look spinning around. But then again, she's was in a dressing room and no one can see her so… she twirled again. Kate smiled at herself in the mirror, finally deciding this was the dress. She opened the door and slowly stepped out of the room.

"It's perfect!" Abby screeched, "I love it!" She came running forward and gave Kate a hug.

"Aww thanks Abby," Kate said, "Where's yours?"

The cheery Goth immediately held up a poofy black dress, laced with what appeared to be skull and cross bones. 'Figures', Kate thought, "It's so you! It'll be great!" She laughed to herself as she thought about what McGee would say when he found out he'd have to find a matching skull and cross bones tie.

"I'm so excited for your first high school dance Kate!" Abby shouted, her excitement had obviously not worn off yet, "How did you survive at an all girls' school? Oh, does Tony know it was an all girls' school? He'll go nuts over that! Well, that's something for you guys to talk about at dinner…"

Abby continued talking but Kate was already lost in thought, remembering last week. _She'd had volleyball practice every day after school for a while, so she hadn't really hung out with Tony, except for Fridays which were her off day unless she had a game. It had been one such Friday and she waited around her locker for a while, but there was no sign of him. Disappointed, she'd left to go find her car. She was in shock at what she'd found. There was popcorn cluttering her dashboard and all around her car. She had slowly walked closer. There was a sign taped to her driver's side window that read 'Homecoming__', __with an arrow pointing to the back of her car. Everything then seemed to happen in slow motion. She had walked around to the back of the car and… there was nothing there? She had then turned around and found Tony leaning casually up against her door. "So…?" he asked, and Kate was sure she had heard a hint of nervousness in his usually carefree voice. "Uh, well…" Kate said as she was sure her heart skipped a beat, "Yes!" she had said with a squeak. Tony's grin was cockier than she had ever seen before as he came forward and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. _Kate started smiling to herself.

"I know who you're thinking of…" Abby's voice brought Kate back to the present.

She gave an uneasy smile and replied, "Let's just go pay for our dresses, ok?"

* * *

The doorbell rang and Kate hurried to put the finishing touches of make-up on. She was nervous, but determined not to appear anxious in any way. She slipped on her shoes and, after taking one last glance in the mirror, left her bedroom and headed downstairs. Already she could feel the pain in her feet. Heels were not her choice shoes. "You look so cute honey!" she heard her mom cry, "My daughter's growing up!"

"Thanks mom," Kate sheepishly replied. She panicked as she saw her dad head to open the door. "Dad, please don't…"

Her dad was a tall, one might say imposing, man. He was fully decked out in his Secret Service uniform and if looks could kill, his would have you dead on the floor in seconds. He opened the door and she heard Tony give a yelp. She laughed. As embarrassing as this was, hearing him yelp was still amusing. Tony stepped into the house. He looked up at her dad and remained silent. No one said anything for what seemed like eternity to Kate. Finally, Tony squeaked out, "Nice to meet you Mr. Todd," and then quickly turned to her mom, "Mrs. Todd," he nodded.

"Aren't you just adorable!" Kate's mom pronounced, giving Kate a nudge simultaneously. Her dad still didn't say anything, just continued to glare at Tony. She'd always laughed at awkward scenes like this in movies and such but Kate didn't really appreciate the humor just right then. She gave Tony an apologetic smile as her mom led them outside for pictures.

"You know, this reminds me of the movie where…" Tony started but Kate elbowed him. "What?" he asked, faking anger, "It was a very good movie for your information!" She laughed he put his hands on her waist and they stood still for a few moments, smiling for the camera.

"Alright, I'll let you two get on with your night!" Her mom said, putting away her camera, satisfied with the forty plus pictures she had taken.

"Thanks mom," Kate said softly as she and Tony walked to the car. He opened the passenger door and Kate hopped in.

"Wait one second young man!" Kate sighed as she saw her father come marching towards them. He stuck his head in the car, gave Kate a kiss on the cheek, then turned to Tony. "Come here," he said as he closed Kate's door and led Tony towards the back of the car. Once he figured Kate couldn't hear him he began, "Now listen. I can be a friendly guy. But before I joined the Secret Service I worked as a police officer, and the things I've seen, well, the things I've seen have made me very protective of my daughter. You hear me? You harm one hair on her head and I will track you down boy."

"Yes sir." Tony responded solemnly.

"All right good," he said, reaching out to shake Tony's hand, his facial expressions much less tense. "Be good to her," he said softly as he patted Tony on the back and walked back up to the front porch to rejoin Kate's mom.

Tony took a deep breath, and then hurried to get in the car. Kate immediately sent numerous apologies towards him. "Tony, sorry! What did my dad say? I…"

He cut her off as he slowly backed out of the drive way. "It's fine," he laughed, "You know, the typical father threatening his daughter's date. Nothing I haven't seen on TV before." Kate rolled her eyes, but was relieved.

Tony parked the car and ran around to open Kate's door for her. "You know I'm perfectly capable of opening a car door by myself Tony," Kate snarled as Tony slowly opened the door rather ostentatiously and answered in a British accent, "For you my-lady," with a silly grin as he reached for her hand. "Mhm," Kate responded, refusing to show how hillarious she actually thought that was. He shut the door, held her left hand in his right, and as they were walked towards the restaurant aimed his car keys over his left shoulder and locked the car. "Very showy," Kate said flirtily, leaning into him closer as they walked through the revolving door.

Tony grinned. "Of course, my-lady. Uh-oh, it seems the peasants are not happy with the late arrival of their royal majesties!" Kate stifled her laughter as the ambled towards the table filled with the rest of the other elaborately dressed teenagers.

"Hey, glad you guys could finally show up to the restaurant," a slightly annoyed McGee greeted them.

"Oh, Timmy, shut-up," Abby said, playful slapping him on the arm. She turned to Kate and Tony, "You guys look so amazing! But hurry up and sit down please! We've been waiting for a while, and certain people…" she nudged McGee, "get grouchy when they're hungry."

Kate glanced around the table and said hello to everyone else as Tony pulled out her chair for her. Abby was wearing her black dress, a black chocker with rhinestones, and her hair was pulled up in an interesting sort of bun that one might describe as a spider-web? McGee was sitting next to her, his hair groomed back and surprisingly, wearing a matching skull and cross bones tie. Next to them sat Jimmy Palmer and Daisy Wick, who was in an obnoxious bubble-gum pink dress that was possibly just as vibrant as her personality. Then there was Jack with Angela, in a long slender green dress that tied up in a halter top around her neck. At the far end of the table was Booth who looked rather casual in a suave suit without a tie, sitting close to Temperance, who was wearing a subtle maroon colored dress with her hair loose and curly. They were of course arguing about something trivial, but Kate was amazed to see how relaxed and, well, how normal Temperance looked. Obviously Angela had helped her get ready for the dance. Kate sat down and began talking to Daisy, when Tony tapped her on the shoulder. "Kate, Katie, look at me!" She turned, and frowned as she saw Tony, balancing a spoon on his nose.

"Very mature, DiNozzo," she said.

"Come on Katie, try it with me!" he cajoled.

"Nope."

"And why not?" He flashed a charming smile, while still balancing the spoon on his nose.

Kate sighed, picked up her spoon, and laughed. "This is no way for royalty to act DiNozzo."

"Quite right you are my-lady," Tony replied with the spoon still skillfully balancing on his nose.


End file.
